Rodents, e.g., rats and mice, have been a curse on mankind for centuries. They bring pestilence and disease into major population centers and compete directly with mankind for food either by direct consumption or by fouling the stored materials with their droppings, dirt, and parasites.
There have been many solutions proposed in the past to control or reduce rodent populations. One proposed solution has been the rodent or mouse trap. Mouse traps typically include a spring-biased movable member which either crushes or encloses a rodent in response to the rodent contacting a trigger device with non-poisonous bait located thereon. Once crushed or enclosed, a user would then manually dispose of the rodent. While mouse traps may be useful in the removal of a single rodent, they remain generally ineffective in controlling larger rodent populations. Further, mouse traps pose great danger to children and pets who can severely injure themselves upon contacting the trigger device.
The most effective solution to control rodent populations to date has been the use of poisonous baits. Poisonous baits are very lethal and rodents consume the lethal bait as a food source and subsequently die. However, the use of poisonous bait, while highly effective, represents an inherent danger in that it can be touched or ingested by non-target species, e.g., humans, domestic animals, or pets, causing serious injury or death.
In the past, distribution of the poisonous bait was made in substantially open trays which contained the poisonous bait intended for the rodents. The trays were open and the poisonous bait was freely exposed so that children and domestic animals were often poisoned as a result of reaching into corners or other locations where such trays were placed with the intention that only rodents have access thereto. In addition, the poisonous bait within the open trays could also be spilled from the trays as a result of the actions of cleaning personnel unaware of the presence of the poisonous bait.
The open trays have generally been replaced by other containers, generally referred to as "bait stations". Bait stations are directed at allowing easy access for the target species and inhibiting access to the poisonous bait by larger, non-target species. In an attempt to accomplish these objectives, bait stations have utilized numerous different designs including limiting entrance sizes and/or incorporating maze-like constructions with horizontal or vertical baffles. These designs, while providing some protection to non-target species, are defective in many respects because the poisonous bait can still escape the bait station upon being lifted off a supporting surface and being shaken or otherwise moved. Further, many of these bait stations are costly to construct.
There is a need, therefore, for a bait station that will not only inhibit, but prevent, non-target species from contacting the poisonous bait used for rodent eradication, while at the same time, allowing rodents easy access to the poisonous bait.